ACYA Newsletter March 2013

March is already upon us and we have another bumper month ahead for ACYA Group, with ACYPI events locked in for Sydney and Melbourne, Engaging China Project hosting an event on the Gold Coast, and new ACYA chapters starting up at UTS and UniSA. So go ahead and get stuck into this month’s ACYA e-bulletin, featuring an interview with ACYA@ANU President Geraint Schmidt, coverage of O-Week festivities at home and abroad, and career opportunities with Wiseman and Extension & Lettuce. ACYA Publications are also looking for new committee members and helping hands – so be sure to get in touch and get involved!

We look forward to seeing you again in April.

祝大家天天开心,

The ACYA Group team.

5 minutes with…Geraint Schmidt
Chapter President
ACYA@ANU

How did you get involved with Sino-Australian youth engagement / ACYA?
My passion for China and Sino-Australian youth engagement was born out of my travels in China in 2011. I unequivocally fell in love with the country, the language, the food, the people, the landscapes, the diversity, and I was inspired by my experiences to want to influence Australians, especially youth, to see the opportunities that engaging with China provides. After feeling frustrated by the lifestyle of a high school boarding house, China rekindled in me a desire to learn and explore, and if anyone became at least somewhat engaged with China after hearing me wax lyrical about it I would be overjoyed.

What keeps you interested in China?
Very simply: the desire to go back, and this time with a greater understanding of the language, the people, the issues and the culture. I look forward to the day that I step into China again with all the time in the world to explore both places I visited and loved as well as places I missed out on, preferably on a bicycle.

What exciting plans do you have up your sleeve for ACYA@ANU in 2013?
Fundamentally, the ACYA@ANU executive is focused on maintaining a high quality weekly language exchange and on implementing a potential mentoring system where domestic and Chinese-speaking students can form one-on-one relationships to practice the languages they are least confident with. We are planning a film night in the next couple of weeks, a Hot Pot/Mahjong night over the frigidly cold Canberra winter, and an inter-society ball with other Asia-related societies in Semester Two.

What is your philosophy as ACYA@ANU President?
We at ACYA@ANU are trying to facilitate interest and engagement between the nationalities and cultures of the Asia-Pacific. We can offer a relatively peaceful space for international students to engage with each other away from the tensions that might exist in their home countries, and I think facilitating these sorts of engagements is what societies like ACYA should be all about. I’m therefore pushing this year for tighter ties between ACYA@ANU and the other societies around campus.

Australia-China Young Professionals Initiative

ACYPI NSW in conjunction with the Australia-China Business Council invites you to drinks and a discussion on the art of building successful working relationships between Australia and China – ‘The Art of Guanxi: Doing Business in China’. The event will feature leading China experts Kevin Hobgood-Brown, Managing Director, Riverstone Advisory, and Barry Plews, Creative Producer and Dramaturge of Reckless Moments.

ACYPI Victoria and the Australian Institute of International Affairs also invite you to a discussion with Colin Heseltine. Colin’s career with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spanned over 40 years. During this time, Colin worked extensively in the Asian region as head of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat and ambassador to the Republic of Korea.

Time: 6:00pmDate: Wednesday 3rd April 2013Venue: Dyason House, 124 Jolimont Road, East MelbournePlease visit http://www.acypi.org.au/ where RSVP details and information regarding the new ACYPI Perth Chapter will be released shortly.

Engaging China Project

ECP has started 2013 with a bang! All around the country we celebrated Chinese New Year with our local communities. From Perth to the Gold Coast we’ve been working hard to develop our networks with schools and universities and of course ACYA! We partnered with ACYA on several O-week stalls and our newest ECP Ambassadors are excited to get out into schools, tell their China story and inspire the next generation. Now that school has resumed, ECP will be delivering our Term 1 presentations this month. For more information or to join in the fun please email info@engagingchinaproject.org.au.

This year a new ACYA Chapter will be starting up at UTS! Sydney University, UNSW and Macquarie already have ACYA chapters up and running and it’s about time that UTS joins in the fun!

It’s well known that UTS has a huge Chinese student population that is growing every year, yet there is still no ACYA presence to take advantage of this. So to get things started we need members, members, members! Everyone is talking about how Australia is entering the Asian Century so what better time to join than now?

Everyone is welcome, even if you don’t speak a word of Chinese. Join us at the new ACYA@UTS Facebook group – it may just be the best thing you do today.

Please contact ACYA@UTS Chapter President Matthew Warr for more details or simply add him on Facebook.

The new ACYA@UniSA chapter aims to introduce Chinese culture to Australian youth who are interested in China and vice versa. By delivering a Mandarin course, traditional festival party and other social events, we hope to encourage cross-cultural understanding and different cultural experiences at UniSA.

We are going to have a welcome party working together with ACYA@UniAdelaide and the Chinese Culture Club UniSA in the coming weeks. Feel free to come and join us, you are very welcome!

It’s been a busy and exciting time for ACYA’s chapters across Australia and China, with university O-Weeks heralding the start of the new semester. Below are some choice shots from ACYA@UniWA, ACYA@UQ, ACYA@USYD and ACYA@Nanjing!

ANU Language & Thinking Survey – Seeking Participants

If you are Chinese, have obtained Australian citizenship or residency and are fluent in both Mandarin and English, please consider taking part in the following ANU language and thinking survey by clicking here. You’ll receive a detailed report about yourself for your efforts! Contact Corie Lin for more information.

Intership Opportunity – Wiseman

Great opportunity to gain valuable work experience in the education community

Wiseman Summer Internship Programme (WSIP) is looking for passionate interns to work with an outstanding international team on e-learning in Hong Kong. Don’t miss out this great overseas English educational opportunity. For more information, visit http://www.wiseman.com.hk/site/about/interns/.

International Marketing Executive Wanted – Extension & Lettuce

If you are a young professional looking for a challenge, write business level Mandarin and English and are a qualified, passionate marketer, Extension & Lettuce would like to hear from you.

Based in Extension & Lettuce’s funky South Melbourne office, the International Marketing Executive will be championing their most ambitious online project to date as well as assisting their clients devise and implement international marketing strategies.

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What is ACYA?

The Australia China Youth Association (ACYA) is the only apolitical NFP run for members, by members that works to actively foster a transnational community of young Australians and Chinese interested in further understanding each other's countries. Focusing chiefly on secondary school students, university students, and early career professionals, ACYA’s objectives are to facilitate and develop lasting bilateral friendships, partnerships and opportunities across a variety of social sectors, including but not limited to: business, academia, government, sport and the arts.
With hundreds of events annually across Australia and China, unique internship, study, and volunteer opportunities, a diverse range of publications, and over 5000 members, ACYA is the first port of call for anyone interested in Australia and China.